I was in my room when Alice came home with the shopping.

"Gwen." I looked up in time as she threw me my requested snacks before going to her room. I finished with my paper before going to her room to see if she'd found her dad. "Absolutely no." she said as I joined mom looking over her shoulder at the computer.

"Where are these from?" mom asked her.

"Kokatahi." Alice said.

"Sounds exotic." I told her.

"Where's that?" mom asked. "That Hawaii?"

"New Zealand." Alice corrected.

"Hm, nice. If daddy's in New Zealand maybe I'll go looking for him myself." Mom said before walking away.

"He's not in Kokatahi." Alice said as she stood up to put a pin in the map she had over her computer.

"Should I break out the fine china?" mom asked Alice sarcastically.

"No, remember what happened last time you brought out the china?" I asked her.

"Ah, yes." Mom remembered before she started putting the shopping away.

"Wha… I thought you were excited to meet him." Alice said.

"We are." I told her.

"We only hope it's not the kiss of death. Again." mom added.

"What are you talking about?" Alice asked coming down from her room.

"Alice, you know it's true." Mom told her. "You no sooner bring a guy home then you come up with a million reasons why he should never come back."

"This one's different." Alice assured her.

"Oh?" mom asked and Alice just smiled.

That night I was dressed in a white dress with a black tank underneath, black tights, and black boots. I wore a necklace my mother had given me years ago. It was the yin yang symbol but instead of white and black it was white and red. I walked to the door so see a guy giving Alice white roses.

"For me?" she asked with a smile on her face.

"For all of you." He told her noticing me and mom.

"They're lovely." Mom said as we joined them.

"This is my mom and sister, Carol and Gwendoline. And this is Jack." Alice introduced.

"Jack, wonderful to meet you. At last." Mom said as they shook hands.

"Same here." He told her.

"We've heard a lot about you." I said shaking his hand. "Call me Gwen, by the way. Gwendoline is too long."

"Of course." He agreed. "I hope Alice told you only good things about me. I'd hate to have to try and impress you when you've heard all my dark secrets."

"Which answer would you prefer?" I teased making them laugh.

"I'll put these in water." Mom said before heading for the kitchen.

"I'll let you two be alone." I said. "Might not be getting much of that tonight."

"Thanks Gwen." Alice said smiling at me as I passed her for my room.

"Dinner's going to be twenty minutes so you three entrain yourselves." Mom called to us.

"And then we'll redue the floors sometime this fall." Mom told Jack after dinner.

"Well you have a beautiful home." Jack complimented.

"Thank you. Feels like we've been here forever, because we have." Mom joked. "Ever since Gwen joined the family. It's been the three of us, I guess, almost ten years."

"Ten years March 23rd." Alice said and I looked down at my hands.

"Alice is meticulous with dates." Mom told him.

"Yeah, well, that one." Alice corrected.

"That's when…" Jack dropped.

"Her dad disappeared and mom found me." I told him.

"Yes, of course." Jack said taking Alice's hand in his. She smiled at him while mom and I shared a look.

"Look, my show is about to start and I think the two of you can handle being without me for a little while so I'm going to say goodnight." Mom told them.

"Thank you for dinner." Jack said standing as we did. "It was great."

"You're very welcome. Alright sweetheart, you can just leave everything on the table." Mom said as she went to her room.

"Night mom." Alice and I called to her.

"I'll go to my room. Got a book calling my name." I told them. "Hope to see more of you Jack."

"And you, Gwen." He said smiling at me.

"Night Alice."

"Night Gwen."

"Was it a diamond ring?" Mom asked Alice when we joined her later that evening. Jack had tried to give Alice a ring, but Alice gave him the boot instead.

"No." Alice told her. "But it looked incredibly valuable."

"So, after weighting all the possible cons and the unlikely pros, you kicked him out?" mom asked.

"I don't need the lecture." Alice told her.

"Alice," mom sighed going to sit next to her. "Listen, just because daddy left doesn't mean they all will." Alice sat up and was about to say something when she reached into her pocket and pulled out a very familiar object.

"The ring." She told us. "He slipped it in my pocket. There's no way." she said getting up and going for the door.

"Wait, Alice!" I called after her before following her.

"Jack!" she called into the night when we got outside of the building. She ran to the mouth of an alley with me behind her when we heard someone scream in pain. We ran towards the noise to see Jack getting beaten. "Jack!" The men loaded him up and got into their van before driving off. We tried following but you can only chase after a van for so long. We turned to see a man in a white tux, gray jacket, white hair tied in two tails, and a white cane walking up to us.

"I'm afraid he's gone." The man told us. I stayed behind Alice, trying to keep out of sight as I put my necklace down my dress.

"Who are you?" Alice asked him.

"A friend of Jack's." he said. "I'm here to help him."

"Why didn't you?" she asked.

"Who were those guys?" I asked him.

"Jack took something that didn't belong to him." he said ignoring our questions as he circled us. "We need it back."

"What are you talking about?" I asked him as Alice moved the box behind her back.

"The ring, Alice." He demanded.

"How do you know my name?" she asked him. "Where have you taken Jack?"

"He's quite safe." He tried assuring us.

"Then bring him back and let him tell me himself." She ordered.

"I'm afraid he's got to go back with me to face charges." The man told us.

"What charges?" I asked him as Alice opened the box.

"So you do have it." He said before attacking Alice.

"No!" she said pushing him against the wall. "Where have you taken Jack?" he knocked the box from her hand to the ground and I grabbed it. He knocked her over before charging me. I kicked him back before he used his cane to hit my hand knocking the box out of it. He grabbed it and took off running with me and Alice behind him. "Wait!" she called after him as we ran. We chased him down multiple alleys with her calling after him until I came to a stop before a mirror. Alice ran into me and we both fell into it.